Mud
by post-war
Summary: "There was meant to be a whole scene in the lake ..." one-shot.


**One-shot based off Kathryn Prescott's comment 'there was meant to be a whole scene in the lake...'**

**Written from Naomi's POV. Let me know what you think?**

**Have a nice day

* * *

**

MUD

I remember the cold. I splashed around like a fish on a line, trying desperately to wriggle away from the chest-clenching cold. 'Jesus Christ!' I heard myself shout.

Emily's shrieks of protest and amusement echoed in the clearing as I shook the water from my head and assessed the distance I'd jumped.

Through the splashing white water of my own careless thrashing, I saw Emily clinging to the bank.

'Come out here you big wuss!' I ordered, to which she vigorously shook her head. I splashed my arms half-heartedly, my toes dislodging stones and clouds of brown mud as they brushed along the lake-bed. I swam closer to the hunched figure that scrabbled fruitlessly at dry land. I reached for a pale arm, feeling its struggling relax as my hand clasped around it.

Emily turned against the bank to face me. 'It didn't look this cold,' she said.

I laughed, 'How cold did it look?'

Emily looked down at the water with a frown, 'Warm.'

I laughed again, gently tugging the arm in the direction of open water.

Emily looked longingly at the bank for a moment, before following me out. The water was dark, covered in a film of green algae that had left a rim around Emily's shoulders. Mud from the bank streaked across her arms and chest as she had grappled against it. She looked as green and brown as the earth.

The lake bed dropped away from beneath my feet. The mud I had kicked up floated to the surface, then sank again. Emily began to swim in long strokes beside me, her arms and legs bumping against my own. We stopped halfway out, and I turned to float on my back, flicking my hands and feet rhythmically to keep me afloat, letting the sun warm my front.

My eyes were closed, but I felt Emily watching me. I felt her in the water beside me. I could feel her heartbeat in the pulse of the water as it gently lapped against me.

'I told you not to look,' I said, opening one eye to look at her.

She swallowed guiltily, 'I wasn't,' she said, 'I wasn't looking.'

'Emily, you were perving,' I tell her, closing my eyes again, 'You're a big pervy perver.'

It was then that I felt small strong hands on my shoulders that pushed me down into the water. I felt myself shriek as the water rushed against my skin. The water engulfed me and I felt the hands release their grip. I resurfaced frantically, flailing my arms and gasping at the air, only to feel the hands pushing me down again.

'Quit groping me you perv!' I managed to splutter before the water claimed me again.

I kicked and scuffled under the water briefly before I was allowed to surface again. I snatched Emily's deceptively strong arms before they attacked me again. She squirmed, a self-satisfied grin on her face.

'That was very annoying,' I told her.

She struggled to free her arms again, but I kept them held. The water splashed around us as we tussled. 'Admit I wasn't perving,' she demanded, her wriggling almost feeing her from my grip.

'Okay okay,' I said, releasing her and holding my hands up in defeat. 'You're a charming, innocent young lady who has never once gawped at my boobs and/or arse.'

A petulant splash of water slapped me in the face. 'Think quite a lot of yourself, don't you?' came the reply.

I smiled pleasantly at her, and her small mouth quirked up at the side in a smile that she couldn't keep repressed. Through the water her hand grasped at mine, and I gripped it like I needed it to live.

The sun glinted off the water where we had disturbed its delicate floating plant-life, and the breeze prickled the hair of Emily's pale skin. We pedalled the water as droplets ran down the gentle curve of her face, some clung to her long eyelashes, and the rest stuck her hair together in thick, dark strands.

I don't know how long I stayed in the freezing water out in the middle of the lake, staring. All I know is that I wish Emily could have seen what I saw. It was like the wood had parted for us, revealing the rich water for us to throw ourselves into, only to close back up once we had left; the trees seemed to kneel beneath the gaping sky above us. All of the big, beautiful things that she searches for were utterly surpassed in those few moments. She's desperate to travel the world, thinking she's missing all of these wonderful, bright, colourful moments; restless, always hoping to see something more breath-taking. If only she knew what I saw that day was enough to break her heart.

We scrabbled inelegantly up onto the bank. The hard surface scuffed the skin of my arms and knees, my body felt weighted down with water, and with mud. Mud sticks after all.

I ran my hand through my wet hair, only just then remembering I was wearing nothing but my underwear. Emily looked small and cold stood on the bank, gazing back out into the water. Flecks of green, flecks of brown hung delicately on the raised hair of her arms. From the earth, of the earth. She caught me looking and rubbed them away, her hands stroking up and down her arms long after the mud had gone, and the cold had replaced it. She shivered, kneeling down gently to begin searching through her bundle of discarded clothes.

'I'll make a fire,' I said, before pulling my own t-shirt back on, 'to keep you warm.'

'You don't know how to make a fire,' she told me, seemingly amused at the mere prospect.

'I do!' I didn't.

'How then?' Her hands were on her hips now. She hadn't got as far as putting her skirt back on.

'Erm ... wood plus match equals flamey.' She rolled her eyes at me, continuing not to put her skirt back on. 'Don't worry, I'll teach you,' I say.

'Shut up.'

I remember the cold, I remember the water, I remember watching her make the fire.

But mostly, I remember her: laughing and pushing and pulling me down into the mud.

That day in the water. That time by the lake.

* * *

**Note: Other stories not abandoned or forgotten, just in progress. Thank you for your time.**


End file.
